


A Magical Detective

by Astre_Red



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Genre: Albus Potter is Edgar Allan Poe, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24528226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astre_Red/pseuds/Astre_Red
Summary: There are many reasons that caused Albus Potter to become Edgar Allan Poe. But if you were to ask him, he would simply say that sometimes you're just too different, even in a magical world.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 106
Collections: Identity Crisis





	A Magical Detective

Albus Severus Potter is the second child of Harry Potter and Ginevra Weasley. He is the only one to have inherited Lily Evans's green eyes, and looks a lot like his father.

That's it. It's the only thing he has in common with his father.

Albus Potter is, from a very young age, smart. A genius, and that should have been a good thing, but it's not, not really. Because his parents aren't good ones.

They're not bad either, but they're not good, and it is obvious to anyone who bothers to look.

Ginny Weasley is a Quiddich player. Good for her, bad for her children. She tries to be there, but her job keeps her occupied. She's an absent mother, and it's only when her daughter Lily is five that she leaves her team and does her best to be present, and by then, Albus is seven and already too used to her absence, and doesn't know or trust his mother. She tries to bond with him, and fails. Instead she focuses on James, easier and more airhead, and Lily, so eager to please. The gap between them grows.

Harry Potter is a clumsy father. Unlike Ginny, he is here, but in a way it's worse, at least for Albus. He notices quickly that his second son is a lot smarter than average, and tries to help. He brings him to her aunt Hermione Weasley, the brightest witch of her generation, hoping that the two can bond over books and spells.

It doesn't work.

Hermione Granger-Weasley is smart. Albus Potter is a genius.

When they talk, Hermione is condescending, and just annoys him. She gives him some books, advanced for children of his age, but useless to him.

When he quietly tells her that, she huffs and says.

“Well, let's give you a test to see !”

He scores perfectly. She gives him other tests, and he succeed at each one. Frustrated, she yells.

“Are you cheating ? You can't possibly have managed all alone ! I couldn't do it at your age !”

(Hermione's biggest default has always been her pride as “the smartest”.)

Albus tells her, uneasy, that she can use Veritaserum to prove it. She storms out of the room under the stupefied eyes of her husband.

Ron Weasley stares at him, before shrugging.

“Guess you're a smart one, aren't you ?”

(He doesn't realize how right he is.)

Rose comes, red faced and yelling _cheater_ because _surely, you can't be smarter than mum !_

Albus's answer is only silence, eyes down, and she leaves, angry and disturbed.

Hermione comes back, red from embarrassment but eyes still angry and narrowed, and asks him to try again. He refuses, afraid, and when she insists, Ron grabs her shoulder and shakes his head.

When Harry picks him up, the house's atmosphere is tense. Only his uncle smiles, and says with good humour.

“At least we know in which house he'll end up in !”

(He's wrong, and that's the root of the problem.)

Albus asks not to come back. Maybe it's because of his son's wet eyes, or because of the anger in Hermione's, but Harry accepts. It's not like Albus ever got along with his cousins anyway.

When his family hears of the events during dinner, James laughs and calls him a “know-it-all”, and even if she scolds him, Albus can see the subtle agreement in his mother's eyes. Lily just smiles, happy that her older brother is smart. Harry stays silent.

After that, Albus and James's relationship worsens. James pranks and mocks him. Albus complains once, but when his parents's scolding fails to work, he just does his best to avoid his older brother.

But one day, when he's nine, James burns his favorite book, the one about murders in the muggle world, and when he sees that his parents dismiss it because _It's just a book, Al_ , and _it was a bit too dark and creepy anyway, don't you think so ?_ he takes matter in his own hands.

One week after the book's burning, James wakes up screaming. On his arms and head is written in an ugly green (a colour Albus knows he hates) insults like _bully, liar, jerk_ , and so on. Albus wanted to do worse, but he doesn't want Lily to learn bad words.

No one believes him when he says that Albus is the culprit. After all, how could a nine years old creates such a complex potion ?

Only Lily looks at him. His sister knows him more than anyone (not like it really means something). She stays quiet.

(Albus isn't the only one to suffer from James's “harmless” pranks.)

Albus has a lots of aunts and uncles, but he can say safetly that Percy and Audrey Weasly are his favorites.

Maybe it's because that more than anyone, Percy knows what it is like to be the strange one. Maybe it's because that, unlike his parents who principally stay in the magical world, they live in a muggle town where they can visit Audrey's family. Maybe it's because Audrey gifts him all these muggle books he loves so much. Maybe it's because Molly and Lucy, despite being older than him by years, listen and argue with him like he's their equal. Maybe it's because Audrey is the first to see, even before Albus himself, that the magical world isn't for him. Maybe it's because they're the ones who didn't look at him like he was weird or dangerous just because he liked dark or creepy things. Maybe it's because all these things at once. Maybe it's because of none of them.

With them, he can talk freely of his love for the macabre and murder. They give him books and articles from auror cases, and he solves them easily. With them, he can be himself, and he's happy.

A few weeks before going to Hogwarts for the first time, he's sleeping at their house and suddenly says, eyes on the ground and hands shaking.

“I'm not going to be a Gryffindor.”

They pause and exchange a glance. Percy sets his tea down and responds.

“We already know that.”

“The others don't. I mean- When they say I'm going to be a Ravenclaw, they laugh and nod but they don't really think it. Despite everything, they think I'm going to be like them. But I'm not.”

Audrey smiles.

“Does it matter ? The ones that really know you understand that and accept it. The others aren't important.”

Albus wonders if she realizes that his family is among “the others”.

The 1st September comes. His parents wave at him, smiles tenses. Hermione looks uncomfortable around him, which he reciprocates, and Ron just smiles. Rose glares daggers at him and leaves without waiting for him.

Before leaving, his father grabs his arm. He looks helplessly at his son, wanting to say something but not knowing what. In the end, he says.

“Don't listen to your brother. I'm sure you'll be in Gryffondor.”

Albus turns his eyes away.

“And if I'm not ?”

“It doesn't matter to us. We love you.”

(Albus wonders if his father realizes that he's lying to himself.)

“I won't be in Gryffindor.”

He hugs Lily and gets on the train. A few minutes later, he meets his first and only friend.

Scorpius Malfoy is shy, kind, considerate and the son of his father's school bully. Albus doesn't care.

Rose scolds him when she sees him, all righteous anger and morals and _don't you see, he must be a bully !_

Albus stares at her and says, stuttering but determined.

“You- You're the bully here.”

He slams the door on her shocked face and looks at Scorpius. It's the start of a beautiful friendship.

The Sorting happens. Albus Potter is a Slytherin.

He's the only one not surprised.

Rose ignores him (good) and James glares at him (expected). Albus looks back, eyes cold and dark circles under them, and wonders what kind of brother he is. Albus doesn't hate James, but he doesn't like him either.

(He doesn't know whose fault it is.)

His parents send him a letter, telling him how proud they are. They're lying.

Scorpius looks at him and smiles, and it's enough for a while.

Albus aces all his tests, and tries to ignore all the strange looks and whispers that follow him. They still hurt.

It's only when he comes home and sees his family's eyes, who try to be nice but glance suspiciously at him, that he knows he can't stay.

“I need to leave.”

Audrey and Percy don't argue, and if that doesn't show something, Albus doesn't what does.

It takes a while, but at the end of his first year, Audrey accosts him and says.

“There's a writer in America who's willing to take you in if you still want to in a year.”

His name is David Poe. He's a famous writer known, and a muggle who's aware of the magical community. He's friends with Audrey's parents, and is open to the idea of a student.

Albus doesn't hesitate.

His second and last year at Hogwarts passes slowly. Only Scorpius knows of his project. He's sad when Albus informs him, but doesn't try to dissuade him, and it shows how much he knows his best friend.

Albus Severus Potter disappears at the end of his second year. He doesn't regret it.

* * *

Edgar Allan Poe is, at least to the others, the adopted son of David Poe. He's shy and has a weird fascination with everything that is dark and morbid. It's something that makes people uncomfortable and rude with him.

But David doesn't care. He lives alone, and his wife passed away two years ago. He doesn't bat an eye when Edgar -then Albus- asks him if he can change his name. He knows of the Boy-Who-Lived and his reputation, and while he doesn't ask questions, he doesn't let his ward choose and gives him his name. And Edgar doesn't protest. It's not like he can anyways, David already did so much for him.

The man, even if he respects Edgar's work, isn't a good father either. While Harry was here and didn't know how to handle hi, David is here and lets him handle himself. It's both amazing and terrifying, because Edgar may be smart but he's still only thirteen.

He grows up. He hears about the mysterious disappearance of Harry Potter's son, but doesn't bother with it. He never wants to hear from them again.

(He misses Scorpius and little Lily, and Percy and Audrey, but that's all. His family was too weirded out by him to really love him and he can't miss something like that. He wonders if the problem lies with him.)

David hires a tutor so that he doesn't lose control of his magic. He hates it, because it reminds him of everything he doesn't want to be, but he accepts if only because he doesn't want to hurt people with accidental magic.

Times passes, and soon he's sixteen and a nervous wreck. He writes books and sends them to his few friends, because he knows they will be honest and won't sugarcoat anything for his pride. They encourage him to publish them. He hesitantly asks permission from David, who hums and nods. The books sell well, and soon he has enough money to buy an appartment, even though he doesn't and chooses to stay with David.

He's seventeen when he understands he's even weirder than he first thought.

He's writing a book about murder, a classic one and slightly less dark than his others because he wants David to read it. He hands him the book, and the man lets go of the bottle of alcohol. And then he disappears.

Edgar screams, panicked, and frantically searches for his tutor before remembering that the wizard left two hours ago.

Finally, he grabs the book he wrote and gave to his guardian, and a light surround him until David reappears, bloody and shocked. He stays like that for a few minutes, eyes wide, before suddenly turing towards Edgar, eyes murderous.

“GET OUT, FREAK !”

Edgar runs away.

He buys an appartment and makes himself a writer. His tutor never came back and either way, since Edgar is magically and sound to be non-magically a legal adult, he never bothers to learn what happened.

Edgar tries to, but he never heard of that kind of magic before, and he almost starts giving up until he hears of ability users.

They are non-magical individuals born with powers different than magic, and somehow Edgar has both. He really wants to cry.

(Just another reason for him to be the freak.)

He starts to work with policemen, because books sell well but he's bored and a bit more money never hurt. He's not an official detective, but the police call him sometimes to solve cases, and Edgar can pretend than everything is okay for a while.

And then he's twenty-two, and his already fragile world shatters.

Edogawa Ranpo is younger than him, and smarter, and his presence destroys the little peace that Edgar managed to create.

(Or maybe it was already destroyed, and Edgar didn't want to admit it.)

He joins the Guild, a bit because he wants to meets other ability users and mostly because they can help him with his revenge. The members are strange, but so is he, so he supposes he can't really talk. They are all strange in their own way.

But Howard Phillips Lovecraft is scary and makes alarms ring in Edgar's head. He doesn't understand why, because while Lovecraft is weird, he's not mean and didn't try to engage conversations with him, which is a good thing, and yet something in Poe yells to stay far away from him.

Until one day Lovecraft abruptly sits in front of him while he's writing something and says.

“You are a magical being.”

Poe freezes, heart racing and staring with widen eyes (not like Lovecraft can see them) at his colleague.

“No- wait, how- I mean, what makes you say that ?!”

Lovecraft tilts his head, in a way that makes Poe shudder.

“I can see magic inside your veins.”

This makes Edgar's speechless for a solid ten seconds before he whispers an answer.

“I- _What are you ?_ Are you a magical creature ?”

Lovecraft tilts even more his head, in a way that no human should ever be able to.

“Something like that.” he answers, and doesn't elaborate.

Poe avoids him even more after that.

He makes friends with Louisa May Alcott, who's an equally shy person. He's polite with the others, but he avoids Nathaniel Hawthorne. Lovecraft has been nice and didn't say anything to the others about his magic, but Hawthorne is a man of God and while Poe respects that, he also remembers what happened in Salem. All wizards do. So he stays away.

He writes to Scorpius. He hadn't seen him in years, but they still write to each other, and the blond is the only wizard to know about his ability. The Potter Family moved on, like Edgar knew they would. He still doesn't miss them.

Finally, they arrive at Yokohama. He meets Ranpo again. And again, he's defeated. But, for some reason, it's okay.

He has a friend. He has friends, because Lucy and Louisa are still around even if the Guild is gone.

Once, while he is eating a snack and reading Poe's book, Ranpo asks.

“Don't you have a family in America ?”

Edgar pauses, and thinks of David who kicked him out, and of the Potters who never accepted him for who he was, no matter how hard they tried.

“No.”

It's the truth, even if it hurts.

(Albus Severus Potter wasn't accepted by his family, and neither was Edgar Allan Poe.)

Ranpo hums and says.

“Good.”

Edgar startles and glances at him, but the detective doesn't say anything else.

There are many reasons that caused Albus Potter to become Edgar Allan Poe. But if you were to ask him, he would simply say that sometimes you're just too different, even in a magical world.

So if you couldn't fit in one world, you just had to find another.

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? I took a lot of liberties, but I hope you still like it! The title will probaby change, so if you have any idea tell me! I may do another chapter, but I'm not sure yet. Comment what you think!


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